The Beast Inside
by SuperAwesomePandaKitty
Summary: Post 4x12 Future fic of sorts. It had been a year since Mexico, Derek would run out in the woods in his wolf form but manages to get kidnapped and sent to the local zoo. Obviously he couldn't turn into a human without letting the world know about werewolves, so it's up to the pack to save him. Sorry for the terrible summary but enjoy :3


So this is something that wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it and I really hope you enjoy. It's unbeta'd but I'll end up re-reading and editing a few times anyway. Enjoy.

It had been a year since Mexico, Braeden had left shortly after his "evolution" to join the Calavera's in their hunt for Kate and if he was honest with himself, he wasn't surprised that she had left. Things were great between them but he knew that it was only a relationship based on convenience and possibly a way to cure their loneliness without facing their own real issues.

Again, if he was honest with himself, he knew the reason why they couldn't work.

Over the past year, he became a lot closer to the pack than ever before. In pack matters, Scott would defer to him or Stiles for advice, although Derek and Stiles tended to agree on a lot these days.

About a month after Mexico, Isaac came back from France and would spend time at Derek's training his wolf and even just hanging out as friends. Isaac came back because his wolf was restless and he soon realised that he needed his pack and his mate, which turned out to be Scott but Scott hadn't turned 18 yet and didn't have the urge to find his mate. Isaac would curl up beside Derek on the nights he found hardest, which would normally be after pack nights as Scott would always be happily snuggling with Kira. Derek understood Isaac's pain; he himself suppressed his needs for his mate, not wanting to ruin the status quo he had managed to gain within the pack.

Liam soon realised that Scott trusted Derek implicitly and would approach Derek on matters of his wolf, as he was afraid of letting Scott down. They soon developed a close pack bond but Liam would always be closer to Scott than anyone else in the pack.

Parrish, who (with the help of Lydia) had discovered he was a Phoenix, would call over after work from time to time to hang out or watch movies (despite the fact the pack met up once a week for a movie night anyway). Derek really enjoyed Jordan's company and would always help him in any way he could with cases involving the supernatural at the Station.

Lydia would call over for coffee with the latest book they had been reading to discuss their favourite characters and topics; they had quickly became best friends and would regularly seek each other out for advice on anything.

Kira and Malia would constantly come to him for advice on their supernatural abilities and had slowly became a couple after Scott had turned 18 and realised his Wolf desired a mate, who sadly wasn't Kira.

On the bright side, Scott soon came to the realisation that Isaac was his mate and came to Derek for advice. Derek told him to trust his instincts and talk to Isaac. Scott never had the chance as the berserkers Kate had left behind, showed up and almost killed Isaac, causing Scott to lose control and kill the beast. Isaac was badly hurt but he healed, Scott helped Isaac back to his house and lay beside him; his wolf needing assurances that his mate was okay. They talked the next day and soon were together happily, Derek sometimes missed Isaac's company but he was glad the younger wolf was happy.

And then there was Stiles. Stiles and Malia had broken up a few days after Mexico, although they wouldn't tell anyone the reason why and remained close friends. Stiles started to come to Derek's more often and would ask him questions about the Supernatural, anything he could use to fill up the bestiary with more detailed information.

Two months after Mexico, Stiles soon discovered he was a spark as Derek almost lost his life to a stray Wendigo. Derek had been patrolling the borders of their territory late one night as he was following a strange scent, the scent lured him into a trap and the Wendigo managed to jump onto Derek's back and bite a sizeable chunk from his shoulder. Derek yelped in pain and tried to run and shake off the monster but the Wendigo dug his claws into his sides. Derek howled for back-up and it didn't take long before Scott and Stiles were running towards him, by this stage Derek had lost quite a bit of blood and the Wendigo was still trying to eat him. Derek couldn't shift back to human while the beast was on his back so he tried everything he could, rolling on the ground, running up a tree and jumping upside down to shake the thing off but it was futile.

Scott growled angrily and ran at them both and managed to slash at the Wendigo, who jumped off Derek's back at that moment to go after Scott. Stiles ran towards Derek as he was shifting back and gasped as he saw the carnage that was Derek's back and shoulder.

"Derek! Are you okay? Are you healing?" Stiles asked in a panicky voice. He took off his shirt, leaving him in his t-shirt, and began ripping bits of the fabric to apply pressure to some of Derek's wounds as they were bleeding profusely.

"Stiles..." Derek said weakly, he was struggling to push himself up but light pressure from Stiles made him lie back down on his front.

"Shh Derek, it's gonna be okay. We're gonna get you to Deaton and then you'll be fine." Stiles told him anxiously, his heart beating erratically. Derek didn't know whether Stiles was saying it for his benefit or for Stiles but he wanted to believe him.

The Wendigo dodged Scott's attack and headed towards Stiles and Derek, he knew Derek was weaker now and would be an easier target but Stiles smelt human and human meat was his favourite.

"Look out!" Derek shouted and with his remaining strength, he pushed Stiles over and covered him with his body, taking the full impact of the Wendigo and earning himself another chunk out of his back. His wolf let out a long whine in pain, Stiles turned around angrily. Anger and fear for Derek mixed dangerously within him, more than he had ever felt in his life and his eyes began to glow a bright green colour.

"LET HIM GO!" Stiles shouted angrily, expelling a gust of magic out from his chest which threw the Wendigo 20ft into the air and into a tree. Derek just watched in awe, too weak to say anything.

Scott approached Stiles slowly and hugged him as Stiles had begun to shake anxiously, looking at himself in shock.

"Stiles, it's okay. We need to get Derek to Deaton's! Do you think you can drive or do you need me to drive? You can sit with Derek in the back and keep him awake." Scott told him calmly, keeping an eye on Derek as he could hear his beta's weakening heart rate.

"Yeah...I...I'll sit in the back...You drive. What do we do about him though?" Stiles asked, gesturing towards the unconscious Wendigo and handing Scott his keys.

"Do you have any mountain ash on you?" Scott asked, reaching down to take some of Derek's pain.

"Don't I always?" Stiles joked hysterically; calming down a little as he absentmindedly stroked Derek's hair.

"Make a circle of mountain ash around him and we'll come back for it. Help me get Derek into the car first though." Scott answered calmly; he didn't want to panic Stiles about what he did earlier, not until they made sure Derek was okay.

"Okay, get Derek's shorts out of my car." Stiles nodded, carefully lifting Derek's chest, while Scott had Derek's legs and carrying him towards the car. "You still with me Derek?" Stiles asked him worriedly as Derek's eyes were closed, Scott grabbed Derek's shorts and helped Stiles put them on, deciding to ask questions later.

"Yeah, I'm just resting my eyes." Derek slurred tiredly. Scott and Stiles shared a worried look as they lifted Derek into the jeep, Stiles then rushed to create the mountain ash circle around the Wendigo before hastily lifting Derek's head into his lap as he got into the car.

"Derek, I need you to stay awake until we get to Deaton's okay?" Stiles told him, stroking his bloody face and periodically resting his hand over Derek's pulse point on his neck just to make sure he was still alive.

"Mmhmm." Derek mumbled; feeling exhausted.

"No Derek! I mean it!" Stiles demanded loudly, he was getting nervous as Derek's heart rate was gradually getting slower and slower.

Derek blearily opened his eyes, his wolf growling in his head for not listening to Stiles. "Sorry for scaring you." Derek answered tiredly.

"It's not your fault. Just...next time call someone when you're on patrol, don't go off on your own, Lydia called and told us she had a feeling you were in danger and then you howled and luckily me and Scott were at his house." Stiles told him with a worried look.

"I second that Derek. You should have told me you were going on patrol." Scott chimed in as he drove, causing Derek to feel guilty.

"I'm sorry...I may as well say this now. I sometimes go out for a run as the wolf, it helps me think..." Derek grunted in pain. "And I just wanted to make sure everything was okay...I smelt the Wendigo and decided to follow it, I didn't have my phone on me as I left it at the loft and I was just being stupid, it jumped on me and I couldn't get it off and then I howled...I should have let you guys know I've been running, I know but all I can do is tell you now." Derek explained, his back felt like it was on fire as it was trying to heal but the pain was still severe.

Stiles sighed in exasperation. "There's not much we can do about it now but from now on, you need to let us know when you're out running. At least that way we'll know to keep an ear out for you." Stiles said with a stern look.

Derek nodded guiltily and settled into Stiles' lap more, enjoying the safety of his scent.

Scott stopped the car and helped Stiles lift Derek to his feet and put his arms around both their shoulders as they helped him walk into Deaton's.

Lydia was standing beside Deaton worriedly, and let out a sigh of relief when she seen him. "I've been worried sick. How could you be so stupid going off on your own? Haven't you learned anything these past few years?" Lydia told him off sternly, her eyes looked tired and her always perfect hair was out of place as if she had just woken up. "I was this close to a scream Derek!" She said, gesturing her finger and thumb closely together. "This close! I never want to do that over a friend again Derek." Lydia finished in a hurt tone.

Derek felt awful, he knew the pack cared about him but he never truly knew how much until tonight, he lifted his arms from Scott and Stiles and, with difficulty, hesitantly walked towards her.

"I'm sorry Lyds. I didn't think, I'll never do it without telling you guys again, I swear." Derek promised her, taking in his best friend's worried look.

"Make sure you don't or I swear I'll kill you myself." Lydia answered; the uptick of the lie in her heartbeat didn't need to be mentioned. Derek nodded vigorously, before realising how woozy from blood loss he was as he nearly fell over but Scott and Stiles reached for him quickly.

"Help him on to the table so I can get a good look." Deaton said as he went over to his supplies and took a vial out. "Now Derek, luckily for you Wendigo bites are harmless to werewolves, however, just like the Alpha pack, it'll take longer to heal." Deaton explained as he began to clean out the wounds on Derek's back, making him hiss in pain. Hearing his beta in pain, Scott instinctually came over and took his hand; leeching the pain away.

"Thanks Scott. I'm sorry I let you down." Derek told his alpha, if he was in his wolf form his ears would have drooped and his head would be low in guilt but he couldn't move due to Deaton's administrations.

"It's okay Derek. I just worry about all of you guys. I understand you like your independence and I always try my best to grant you it but you need to at least let me know when you're going to go off on your own like that. If not as your Alpha, as your friend." Scott told him honestly, Stiles was worriedly eyeing the older wolf, making sure he was still there; his heart was just above normal but not enough for a panic attack.

Derek nodded and turned to Stiles. "How did you do that?" Derek asked. "I didn't think there were any left in beacon." Derek added. Scott looked to Stiles curiously.

"What are you talking about Derek?" Deaton asked, finishing up with the bandages.

"I don't know Derek. I really don't know." Stiles answered honestly, looking down at his hands.

"Stiles' birthday was two weeks ago and I noticed there was a change in his scent." Derek began, Scott looked at Derek in confusion as he hadn't noticed the change but Lydia gave him a knowing look.

"What kind of change?" Deaton asked, looking at Stiles with something akin to fascination.

"Well...magic has a distinct scent, I've dealt with witches before and it didn't smell like that but Stiles' eyes had a green glow earlier and I know my mom used to tell me stories about people with a spark. Sparks are born with the ability to use magic but can only unlock it when they become an adult. In most cases, they already know they have one but Stiles' never mentioned having one so I didn't think anything of it. When that Wendigo tried to get at Stiles and I jumped in front, it unlocked something in Stiles, his eyes glowed green and he demanded that the thing would let me go and then magic pushed the Wendigo into the air and hit a tree. I don't think Stiles knew what he was doing because he seemed so shocked by it afterwards." Derek explained, Lydia and Deaton shared an excited look, their love for discovering things bonding them and Stiles just looked down self-consciously.

"I didn't know what I was doing Derek. I just didn't want you to die." Stiles answered quietly. Derek's wolf preened and he quickly reined it in so Scott wouldn't notice, Derek had been suppressing these things about Stiles for a few years and he was used to ignoring his feelings by now.

"Thank you Stiles. You saved my life. If the Wendigo kept biting me for much longer, I don't think I would have survived." Derek said honestly, Lydia rubbed his arm in understanding. She knew everything about Derek's feelings for Stiles as Derek had told her everything.

"It's what we do." Stiles replied with a smile, Derek wasn't sure if he was talking about the pack or them but he knew, in both cases, it was true.

After that night, Stiles had been to Deaton's twice a week for training of his powers, it turned out Stiles' mother was a Spark but she had become terminally ill and unfortunately her powers had dwindled and weren't strong enough to heal herself.

Over the past year, Derek and Stiles had been dancing around each other but both were too afraid to ruin what they had, although, it still didn't stop them from pining. Derek would talk to Lydia about the struggle he has with his wolf whenever Stiles is around and Stiles would talk to Scott and Isaac, as they were always together now.

After leaving Lydia's house, Derek transformed into his wolf and went out to the forest for a run, after texting the entire pack that he was going to of course. He left his clothes and phone in Lydia's backyard just to make sure they wouldn't get lost, he started off at a light jog, his speed increasing as he ran around the border of their territory. He always felt free and at peace with himself in this form and it gave him the best chance to think over his situation with Stiles. He wished he could just go up to Stiles and tell him but he didn't have the confidence, he could fight tooth and nail any monster that threatened his pack but he was terrified of being rejected by Stiles and what it would mean for his wolf.

Whenever they were at pack meetings, Stiles would sit beside him, even curl up to him at times and fall asleep. Derek never knew what it meant, he wanted it to mean more but again, he was afraid. Isaac was the first to notice there was something wrong with his wolf; Scott didn't have to pine for as long as Isaac did and Isaac recognised that; the more time Derek and Stiles spent together, the more his wolf would pine.

Before Derek went to Lydia's that day, Isaac approached him. "You need to tell him Derek. I promise you it won't be as bad as you may think." Isaac pleaded, trying to convince Derek to talk to Stiles; it was making his wolf wine to see his pack member in distress.

"I can't Isaac; we have a good system going. Stiles and I...we're really close and if I tell him he's my mate then he'll either reject me or he'll feel bad and be stuck with me for the rest of his life. Wolves mate for life Isaac, what if we get together and then he changes his mind. I can't do it." Derek said anxiously, his wolf whining in his head.

"Trust me Derek. I promise you that's not how it will turn out." Isaac promised with a determined look.

"I'll think about it okay. I have to go to Lydia's now anyway and then I'm going for a run, okay?" Derek told him.

Derek thought about everything, trying to weigh up the pros and cons of telling Stiles. Pro – he wouldn't have to pine like he did for years, he could just let it out in one awkward conversation and hope for the best. Con – Stiles might tell him he doesn't feel the same way.

Derek stopped abruptly as he heard a twig snapping nearby; he walked cautiously towards the noise, looking around periodically to make sure he wasn't being sneaked up on.

A black shape ran to the other side of the forest, Derek tried to get a good look but he felt something hit is side and he quickly looked to see what it was; a dart was hanging out of his side.

'This is not good,' Derek thought to himself, he took off at a fast pace to try and get to Scott's house, which was the closest pack member's house. He started to feel himself getting woozy and he didn't want to shift back into a human in case it was an unsuspecting human hunter, he howled as loudly as he could, despite the drowsiness he felt. The howl took all the energy he had and he promptly passed out.

x

Stiles woke up after his nap to the sound of his phone ringing, reaching over quickly, he answered it.

"Hello?" Stiles asked confused.

"Did you hear it?" Scott asked worriedly.

"Hear what dude? I just woke up." Stiles answered, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"I thought I heard Derek howl, it was a bit quiet though, he text everyone and let them know he's out for a run." Scott explained quickly.

"Go out and check if he's okay, I'm on my way." Stiles said, getting up and pulling on some jeans as all he was wearing was his t-shirt and boxers.

"Okay, Liam, Malia and Kira are checking the south end of the preserve. You, Isaac and I have the north end and Lydia and Parrish are heading to the loft now to see if Derek heads there." Scott explained carefully.

"Right, I'm coming now. Do you want me to head to yours and pick you up or are you coming here?" Stiles asked, pulling on his shoes.

"We're already here." Scott and Isaac walked into the room as he said this, causing Stiles to jump in a very manly fashion...very manly. Stiles hung up his phone and threw it on the bed and huffed as Isaac couldn't contain his snigger.

"Oh haha, laugh it up. Couldn't you guys you know...knock?" Stiles said, gesturing wildly.

"There's no time, we need to find Derek." Scott said with a smirk.

Stiles sobered at this and grabbed his keys hurriedly. "I'm sure he's okay Stiles." Isaac added to soothe Stiles' worry.

"I'll believe it when I see him." Stiles said, hopping into his jeep, the other two getting into the car quickly, and driving to the forest.

When they got out of the car, Stiles smirked; he couldn't resist and said, "Sniff him out boys." Scott ignored him but Isaac gave him an indignant look as he followed Derek's scent, Stiles closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. Focusing on the spark within himself, he tried to find Derek and had a sinking feeling that Derek wasn't in the preserve, nor was he conscious which would mess with Stiles' location spells.

Scott and Isaac came back, Liam, Kira and Malia following solemnly behind, with serious looks on their faces. "What?" Stiles asked worriedly.

"We can't find him, there's a smell of wolvesbane on the wind and we can't seem to find a trace of his scent." Scott answered softly; his wolf was pacing inside of him, wanting to know who would dare harm his pack.

"I can't locate him right now, he's unconscious." Stiles said anxiously, his breathing had quickened and the pack moved around him to calm him down and give him support.

"Let's head to the loft, we'll see if Lydia can sense anything and try and figure it out there. Okay Stiles?" Scott asked, he knew how much Stiles cared about Derek and was worried about how this would affect Stiles.

"We'll run back to the loft okay? Meet you there." Malia told Stiles, squeezing his arm in support and grabbing Kira's hand and running with Liam shortly behind.

"I'm seriously getting sick of this shit." Stiles said angrily, doing a great impression of Derek as he stomped in frustration towards his car.

Scott and Isaac shared worried glances as they got into the jeep. When they got into the loft Lydia was standing there worriedly, Jordan had his arm around her, hugging her to him as she was trying to conceal her tears.

"Okay, where is Derek? And why is he not with you? He left my house an hour ago. How did this happen?" Lydia asked with new resolve.

"We don't know; there is wolvesbane in the air and it's like he just disappeared, Stiles can't use a location spell because Derek's still out." Scott explained anxiously, having been on the receiving end of some of Lydia's anger before; he was not looking forward to facing it again.

"Okay. So what? We just sit here now and wait?" Lydia asked with her arms folded.

"Well...we were hoping you could get a sense of where he is. We can't smell him, the wolvesbane covered it up too well and we need to wait until Derek wakes up, wherever he is, so Stiles can use his locator spell." Scott explained, Stiles and Isaac had wisely stayed quiet as Lydia was very protective of Derek.

"Well...I don't know, I don't feel like he's close to death or any sort of real danger. He is trying to call out to us though." Lydia said thoughtfully, she kept the fact he was calling to Stiles to herself.

"What do you mean he's not in danger?" Stiles asked her worriedly.

"Well he is but he isn't...I don't know Stiles. He's been taken against his will, therein lies the danger but I don't think he's going to be hurt." Lydia tried to explain as best as she could.

"But..." Stiles tried but he was interrupted by his phone ringing.

"Hello?" Stiles answered.

"Stiles turn on the news. You're not going to believe this." His dad said quickly, luckily one of the wolves reached for the remote and turned on Derek's television.

"The Beast of Beacon Hills has finally been caught and is being transferred to Beacon County Zoo. The Giant Black wolf, which must have escaped from another zoo and had been terrorising citizens, was caught by a game hunter named Jack Duff. The hunter said he was in the woods hunting for a deer, when he saw the beast and shot it with a tranquiliser, he contacted the local zoo immediately and brought the wolf in."

"This can't be happening." Stiles said in shock, he was still on the phone to his father.

"It's okay son, you'll figure something out, you always do. Unfortunately I can't just go in there and explain to them that the wolf is a 22 year old man." His dad told him gently.

"What should we do?" Lydia asked, everyone slowly turned to Stiles as he was usually the one who came up with the plans.

Stiles gave them all a helpless look before he began pacing, his dad was still silently on the phone, waiting for Stiles to come to a decision.

"Come on Stiles, think of something. Think. Derek's in there and he needs your help, he probably can't shift otherwise people would know he's a werewolf and that's a whole list of problems we don't need. Tranquiliser darts don't normally work on werewolves so just what exactly was in the dart, tranquiliser darts can slow them down but not keep them out for that long so unless the guy mixed some wolvesbane in there, enough to make Derek unconscious but not enough to kill him. But why not kill him? Presumably, if you knew there was a werewolf in front of you, knew enough to use wolvesbane in the darts, then you would kill him. Not send him to the zoo...What am I missing? Unless. Unless it's a revenge thing, this person knows Derek can't shift in front of people, especially at the zoo; otherwise he would let the world know about werewolves. Soooo, he's making Derek suffer by making him go to the zoo, which would accomplish what? Maybe he doesn't know Derek has a pack that loves him; maybe he thought Derek was alone, which isn't a stretch given his track record. I'm going to have to go there, establish a psychic link with him and try and find a way to break him out." Stiles thought to himself as he paced, fingers twitching as he thought to himself, too anxious to realise he was talking out loud.

"Of course I'm going to have to go to Deaton in order to figure out how to do it but if it can be done then I'll go there and talk to him. Jordan and Lydia can go run interference at the security desk, Scott, Isaac and Liam can wait outside and keep an eye out for this Jack Duff and Malia and Kira can watch my back while I'm linked with Derek. I'm gonna need to bring some clothes for Derek so it doesn't look strange when a naked man is walking around the zoo where there just so happens to be a missing wolf." Stiles added as an afterthought

"Stiles, you're doing it again." His father decided to chime in, snapping Stiles out of his reverie.

"I said all that out loud didn't I?" Stiles asked sheepishly. The rest of the pack nodded at him with smiles on their faces.

"It's a good plan." Lydia replied with confidence.

"Yeah I think we should go for it." Scott added, leaning into Isaac, who had his arm around him.

"Really? You don't think it's stupid? I need to talk to Deaton though before we go through with it. Dad I'm going to need to go out of town to get there as well." Stiles said to the room and his phone.

"It's okay; I'll be finishing this shift in an hour so if you want to head to Deaton's now then go. Everyone who can hear me, tell the others to meet us at our house before you go and I'll come with you and whoever needs to can get in my car." The Sheriff said, before hanging up as one of his deputies entered his office.

"Well, I'm going to go to Deaton's, the rest of you can meet me at my house in an hour." Stiles said, shakily heading out the door.

"Stiles I'm coming with you, I need to talk to Deaton as well." Lydia said, joining Stiles and subtly taking his keys from him.

"Yeah sure, the more the merrier." Stiles said absentmindedly. They walked out towards the jeep and when Stiles tried to get in the driver's side, Lydia shooed him to the other side with a look and started the car.

"Stiles, I need to tell you something." Lydia began quietly; the awkward silence in the car was unnerving as normally Stiles wouldn't stop talking.

"What?" Stiles asked, rubbing his face tiredly.

"The spell you're trying to do will work but...if it was anyone else, it wouldn't." She said cryptically.

Stiles turned to look at her but she kept her face carefully blank. "What do you mean?" He asked curiously.

"I mean...only certain people can do that spell on certain...people." Lydia replied, rolling her eyes internally at her terrible phrasing.

"That...didn't make any sense. So I'm a spark and he's a werewolf, is that what you mean?" Stiles tried.

Lydia sighed. "No Stiles, if that was the case then you'd be able to do it with Scott but you can't." She answered patiently.

"How do you know? I haven't even tried." Stiles said in mild irritation, he was freaked out enough as it was; he didn't need to be thinking this hard.

"Look Stiles. Derek's wolf...You know what? It's not even my place, when you do the spell, either Derek can tell you or Deaton will explain the rules of this spell...And don't think of asking Deaton, you know he can be a lot more cryptic than me." Lydia explained as she pulled into the Veterinarian's car park.

"O-kay. My head is officially fried." Stiles replied, stepping out of the car and walking quickly into Deaton's office.

"Hello Stiles, what can I do for you?" Deaton asked him, he was examining a dog with a broken paw and was trying to apply a bandage.

"Derek's been kidnapped and sent to the local zoo. I need to know how to establish a psychic link with him." Stiles explained quickly. Deaton sent a quick look to Lydia who shook her head before he smiled in that mysterious way of his.

"It should be easy for you Stiles. Go to the zoo and concentrate on Derek's wolf, not Derek, his wolf. Then reach out within yourself as if you are reaching towards the wolf, the wolf will either come to you or retreat, but I doubt Derek's wolf will do that. Once you establish the link with the wolf then you will be able to reach Derek, the wolf is like a defense mechanism, be nice to the wolf and it will let you pass." Deaton explained calmly.

"How do you know it won't retreat? What if it doesn't work? What if-" Stiles began on his tangent of questions before Deaton set his hand on his shoulder.

"It will work Stiles. Trust me and if not me then trust in yourself. Your magic will only work if you believe it will. Breathe slowly and cast out any doubt before you do it, I have the upmost faith in you Stiles." Deaton told him in a soothing tone.

Stiles breathed in and out shakily before nodding. "Belief, yeah I can do that." Stiles said.

"Come on Stiles, we need to go, I want Derek to be at home sometime tonight." Lydia said, reaching over to rub Stiles' arm comfortingly.

"Good luck." Deaton said with a comforting smile.

Stiles turned and followed Lydia out to the Jeep; Lydia insisted on driving again and before long, they were at his house. Scott was waiting outside with Isaac and breathed out a sigh of relief once he saw them, his wolf was anxious as a member of his pack was missing.

"Hey, your dad should be home soon." Scott said, rushing over to see Stiles.

"Yeah I know, is everyone ready?" Stiles asked, heading into his house to pick up some clothes for Derek. Derek would regularly go out for runs and had taken to leaving some clothes at Stiles' as they would normally hang out at Stiles' house or at the loft.

"Yes. I've called Chris and he said he'd check this Jack guy out." Scott replied.

"Okay good, is he coming?" Stiles asked as he packed some of Derek's clothes into a bag.

"He said he'd try and make it but he'll be late, he was out looking for Kate again so I'm not sure where he is." Scott answered worriedly.

"Poor guy. I know Kate's a bitch but that's still his sister; she's the only family he has left." Stiles said sympathetically.

"The Sheriff's here." Jordan informed them, many of the wolves had heard the car coming so they didn't look surprised.

"Right. Let's go, I'm driving the Jeep, who wants to get in with me?" Stiles said.

"Me." Scott, Isaac and Liam simultaneously said.

"Okay, Lydia, Parrish, Malia and Kira get in my dad's car." Stiles said, looking around to see if he forgot anything. Lydia held up his keys and Stiles smiled gratefully at her and reached for them before heading out to his jeep.

"Mind the speed Stiles; I know what you're like when you're worried." John Stilinski called out to his son from the car.

"I know dad." Stiles said with a smile. Everyone loaded up into their cars and headed off towards the Beacon County Zoo. Knowing his dad was behind him, Stiles made sure to stay at a steady 40 miles per hour, itching to go faster but knowing his dad was right.

When they arrived at the zoo, there was a sizeable crowd wanting to get a look at the huge black wolf. "This is going to be a problem." Stiles said worriedly.

"It's okay; we'll be outside the entire time. Kira and Malia will have your back and your dad, Parrish and Lydia can run interference. Just like your plan, don't worry it'll be fine." Scott said, trying to keep his friend calm.

Stiles nodded shakily as everyone met up in front of the cars. "Now remember the plan, if something goes wrong...I don't know what we'll do but let's just take it one step at a time. Kira and Malia, I need you guys to watch my back and don't let anyone disturb me; it's my first time making this kind of link and I don't want Derek to freak out if I get nudged and he thinks we've left him." Stiles said authoritatively; the air around him seemed to brim with confidence as he focused on the mission of getting Derek safely out of there.

"Be careful, all of you." The Sheriff said, walking over to hug his son before heading into the building with Parrish and Lydia following closely behind.

"You too guys. That hunter could be anywhere, keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary." Stiles said with a worried look.

"Go Stiles. We got this." Scott told him, watching him go worriedly and keeping his ears focused on each pack member's heartbeats. His wolf was still pacing but was relaxing a little in relief as he could hear Derek's heartbeat somewhere in the complex.

Stiles, Malia and Kira followed the crowd to the wolf exhibit, what Stiles saw broke his heart. Derek was walking around the enclosure anxiously, letting out a whine every so often as he saw each face looking at him in awe. He made sure that his eyes were black and tried to keep everything that would give him away hidden.

His head went up abruptly, startling some of the audience as he started sniffing the air quickly. As soon as his eyes met Stiles', he whined and began to head over but Stiles shook his head and gestured to his mind.

Stiles knelt down in the corner and began to focus; he concentrated on that spark within himself and tried to imagine himself standing in front of Derek. He reached out towards Derek's wolf and waited, he noticed the wolf was anxiously pacing, too afraid to come near but as soon as Stiles called out to it, it came rushing over. Stiles was amazed it happened so quickly and reached out to pet the wolf, who allowed him to and it started to hug him and lick his face in relief.

Stiles smiled gratefully as the wolf then allowed him to pass, he reached for Derek's mind and imagined them touching foreheads and a hundred thoughts hit him at once.

'Oh my god! What am I doing here? How am I going to get out of here? Oh God! I'm going to be stuck here forever. The world's gonna find out I'm a werewolf and that they exist and...' the thoughts cut off. 'Stiles?' Derek asked in a shocked tone.

'Yeah Derek, it's me. I've been so worried and then I saw you on the news and then I just didn't know what to do but we're going to get you out of here. I didn't anticipate the masses of people here but I swear I'm going to get you out of here.' Stiles replied anxiously.

'Stiles I don't know what to do. They're all looking at me. All of them. The wolves here know I'm not one of them as well so they feel a bit threatened, they're going to do health tests on me later. It's not good. I don't want to be here, I was just running in the forest, like I normally do and someone hit me with a tranq dart and I just woke up here.' Derek explained worriedly. 'There must have been wolvesbane in it, tranq darts only work for a short time, not enough time to get me here without me knowing.' Derek added.

'I know Derek, we saw you on the news. Do you know a Jack Duff?' Stiles asked curiously.

'...I haven't heard that name in years, my mom said that she used to go out with him before she realised my dad was her mate. Needless to say he never forgave her, vowed vengeance on us for years but then he disappeared, and then my family died...' Derek trailed off sadly.

'Either he thought you were Talia at first and then he noticed you were a boy wolf or he was just trying to get revenge on the Hales in general. Derek...because there's such a large crowd, I'm going to have to come up with a slightly different plan, my dad's here though so it shouldn't be too hard. Just don't lose hope okay? We're not leaving you here.' Stiles told him with confidence.

'Stiles...you don't know how amazing it feels to know you're here. Even if I couldn't get out...I'm just glad you came.' Derek said, freer in his thoughts than he would have been with his speech.

Stiles felt warmth bloom in his chest. 'Don't worry Derek, I would never leave you.' Stiles replied, the warmth in his thoughts seeping into Derek's mind.

Malia noticed that Derek had lay down and stopped moving so she knew Stiles had reached Derek. She smelled a familiar scent, something she had smelt in the forest and she nudged her girlfriend worriedly.

"Kira, I can smell him." Malia told her worriedly. Kira looked around cautiously, trying to cover the view of Stiles with her legs.

"What do we do, we can't have the link break yet, Stiles isn't finished." Kira replied worriedly.

"I could wolf out and kill him." Malia reasoned.

"Not here Malia, there's too many people...and we talked about the no killing thing remember." Kira explained patiently.

"The scent is getting closer." Malia whispered, trying to cover Kira protectively.

"It's okay, just don't wolf out, he can't do anything with this many people around." Kira replied, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.

"It's okay, I won't wolf out don't worry. I'm just nervous, I can smell him but I can't pinpoint it. This is where Derek would normally tell me to breathe slowly and concentrate but I'm feeling too...excited to do it." Malia explained anxiously.

"I think you mean nervous but I understand." Kira told her, rubbing her thumb over the back of Malia's hand. "Breathe with me. Slowly, in, and out." Kira added, breathing in time to Malia's.

Malia closed her eyes and breathed calmly, trying to pinpoint one smell in thousands of other smells. When she did, she worriedly turned to Kira and leaned towards her ear.

"He's literally just there, middle-aged guy, long brown hair, dark eyes and a goatee." She whispered carefully.

Kira tried to look around as inconspicuously as possible and spotted him; he was looking around as if he was looking for someone and met her eyes. She smiled awkwardly and hugged Malia closely as a distraction. Kira never really coped well when it came to this kind of pressure, give her a sword and she's fine but when she has to go incognito, she gets nervous.

When she pulled away from Malia, he was gone. She looked around nervously and couldn't see him anywhere, Stiles was still in his trance and they were afraid he was going to come back.

"What do we do? I think he knows Malia. He's going to come over and try and get to Stiles, I don't know what to do. I can't just use my sword in front of all these people and you can just use your claws, we're defenseless. We can't even poke Stiles and ask him what to do.

"Yes you can." Stiles answered, "Derek knows the plan, we're going to do it just before closing time so there'll be less people." Stiles told them, he went towards the glass so he could get a good look at Derek before he went. Derek came towards him and looked sadly through the glass at him but nodded slightly; he then went and approached different people at the glass so it wouldn't look too suspicious.

Stiles sighed sadly before walking off, with Malia and Kira following cautiously behind. "Stiles, I think he might know, he came over and looked at us earlier, Malia smelt him and was able to pinpoint who he was." Kira informed him quietly.

"I know, he's been trying to keep an eye on Derek, he's trying to get revenge on the Hales because Talia broke up with him. Hopefully, he hasn't realised you're a Hale Malia. I have your backs though don't worry." Stiles told them honestly, they nodded at him, having complete faith in their pack member.

As they walked down an uncharacteristically deserted corridor towards the security room, Malia heard footsteps walking slowly behind them. "He's following us Stiles." She whispered quietly to him.

"It's okay, keep walking. Let me know if he gets too close, I'll turn and stop him if I have to." Stiles whispered, knowing Malia would hear him. Malia intertwined her fingers with Kira anxiously, listening to his footsteps as much as she could.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jack called to them.

"Get behind me." Stiles whispered, before turning round and facing him.

"We're just going to the security desk, my father told me to meet him there." Stiles answered, with an innocent look.

"I don't think so. Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. It won't work, he's going to rot in there forever, or risk letting the world know about him and his kind." Jack said, spitting out the words in distaste.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "You do realise it's not his fault that his mother didn't want you. He didn't do anything to you and you can't keep him here. You had no right kidnapping him and dumping him here." Stiles said angrily, he took a deep breath, trying to keep control of himself and his spark.

"You have no right speaking of that which you don't understand. This is about revenge, she left me to be with that beast and then she had to get herself pregnant with those hell-hounds." Jack spat out angrily.

"You have no idea do you? She was a werewolf; she had her own set of instincts. She met her mate and she probably never meant to hurt you but once a werewolf meets their mate, they mate for life. They don't mean to do it but they can't help themselves." Stiles explained as calmly as he could, Malia and Kira were crowding into his back for support.

"She wasn't a werewolf." Jack replied uncertainly.

"She was, she was born a wolf, just like Derek was, born wolves can transform into a full wolf. Talia was able to do it just as her children were able to do it." Stiles replied with a stern look.

"...It doesn't matter, the point is he's in there now and there's nothing you can do about it." Jack smirked, pulling out a gun. "I'm going to make sure of that."

Kira gasped and Malia stood in front of her. Stiles moved towards Jack, gesturing for them to stay back.

"So you're just going to shoot the Sheriff's son in the middle of a public place? There are cameras everywhere; you'd be stupid if you did." Stiles said sarcastically, he was never able to keep his mouth shut when threatened.

"I don't care, all I know is you are the only thing standing in the way between me and my revenge." Jack replied, pointing the gun at Stiles.

"Stiles!" Kira shouted worriedly.

"It's okay Kira, he won't hurt me." Stiles promised, his spark was bubbling under the surface of his skin. He was so angry and desperate to save Derek that it was a wonder he hadn't lost control already.

"What makes you think I won't? Even if I don't kill you now, they're going to be running tests on your freaky wolf boyfriend and when they do, I'll be sure to dose him with enough wolvesbane to "accidentally" kill him. Because I was the one who caught him, they're allowing me to operate on him." Jack taunted smugly.

That was the wrong thing to say, Malia heard Stiles' heart rate speed up, and his eyes began to give off a green glow. Jack laughed and aimed for Stiles chest before shooting his gun.

Stiles was livid, and Derek could sense it as he was focusing his hearing on Stiles' heart rate as he anxiously paced around his enclosure. He yelped when he heard the gunshot and the audience members began to freak out, Derek took his chance and backed up before running as fast as he could with his Supernatural abilities and jumped out of the enclosure to get to Stiles. People ran away from him screaming in fear and he saw the security guards running towards their guns in a panic and he knew he had a very small window of time to get out of there.

He followed Stiles' scent, the smell of mate, pack and home and ran as fast as he could. He skidded to a halt when he saw Stiles standing over the unconscious body of Jack Duff, running over, he jumped up and started licking Stiles' face and rubbing into him as much as he could. He jumped down when he heard the guards and ran, trying to find the smell of his Alpha, who he knew was outside as Stiles had told him he was.

Stiles' spark exploded as soon as Jack fired his gun, the bullet had disintegrated and Jack was blown back and hit his head off the wall. He stood in shock as he noticed Derek run up to him and began licking his face and he hugged him back tightly. He saw the security guards coming towards them as Derek took off and tried to think of a new plan.

Derek found the main exit and ran for it as quick as he could, Scott breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him but panicked when he saw the guards trying to line up a shot with their snipers. "Into the forest Derek quick, do a round and run into Lydia's house and shift back as quick as you can." Scott said to him quietly, knowing the werewolf could hear him perfectly well.

Derek ran and ran, despite the health risks; he was enjoying the elation of running on all fours. He did just as Scott said, knowing there were several cars following him and headed for Lydia's, he grabbed his clothes with his teeth, not caring that he couldn't pick up his phone and ran to the back of Lydia's house. He quickly shifted back and got into his clothes before heading back for his phone and walking into Lydia's house.

Derek rang Stiles. "Hey, I'm at Lydia's now. I shifted back and got changed just like Scott said; they're walking around the forest and her backyard now. What do I do?" Derek asked him anxiously before he had a chance to say hello.

"Wait there. I'm coming to get you, just remember you're human now. It's not like they'll know you were the giant wolf okay?" Stiles told him soothingly. He was practically buzzing in his seat, threatening to push the speed limit to get to Lydia's house as quickly as possible but his dad was beeping the horn every so often as if to say "don't even think about it." He knew him so well.

"Okay and Stiles...I need to tell you something." Derek replied, almost shyly.

"Okay, I need to tell you some things too. I gotta go." Stiles said, before hanging up as his dad was beeping angrily at him for driving while on the phone.

When he pulled up to Lydia's, Stiles barely waited for the car to stop as he ran into Lydia's house and pulled Derek into a hug, the others waited outside so they could talk. "I'm so glad you're safe. That jackass said that when they were going to run the tests on you, he was going to pump you full of wolvesbane." Stiles told him, his voice was slightly muffled as he was talking into Derek's shoulder. Derek turned his face into Stiles' neck and breathed in deeply, their combined scents pleasing his wolf deeply.

"I'm okay Stiles, thanks to you. I was so worried, I heard the gunshot and I just had to get out of there and my wolf went crazy. Think I scared quite a few people there as well." Derek replied, hugging tighter.

"Well next time...you are never going on a run on your own. Whether you like it or not." Stiles told him with a watery stern look.

"Hey, I'm okay. I promise, I probably should have known that something like this would happen." Derek told him softly, wiping Stiles' worried eyes.

"Derek...I," Stiles began but Derek interrupted him.

"Before you start, I have a few things to tell you." Derek said, sitting Stiles down on the sofa beside him but not letting him go too far, even though Stiles didn't seem to want to go anywhere. "First of all, that spell you did, where we were linked telepathically, only works on a wolf if he sees the person casting the spell as their mate." Derek said shyly, not looking at Stiles when he let out a quiet gasp. "My wolf has recognised you as a mate for years and I tried to suppress it because I was in denial and it's what I do. But when you turned 18, your scent changed and became stronger, along with smelling your spark; my wolf began to suffer more because it recognised you as mate more strongly."

Stiles gave him an indignant look but uncharacteristically stayed silent so Derek could explain himself. "I know it was stupid but over the past year, we've become really close and I was too afraid of rejection and that rejection is especially hard when it's someone's mate. Although recently, I've found myself wanting to tell you more and more; Isaac tried to talk me into it and I went out for a run to think about it earlier and then of course I had to get shot and stuck in that hellhole before I could tell you." Derek finished sheepishly, his cheeks had reddened slightly and he was nervously waiting for a reply, still refusing to meet Stiles' eyes.

"Okay, first of all, you're stupid. Second of all, you're an idiot." Stiles replied with a fond look. "I've been in love with you for years dude." Stiles added, giving Derek a bashful grin when Derek looked up in shock.

"I'm an idiot." Derek agreed, smiling softly.

"So am I, if we're being honest." Stiles added, reaching up to stroke Derek's hair softly.

Derek leaned in and kissed Stiles gently, before leaning in a little more and allowing the kiss to become passionate as Stiles ran his fingers through Derek's hair and kissed back with all that he had. They pulled back when they heard cheers from outside.

"About time!" Scott called.

"Can you guys get out of my house; my mom will be home soon." Lydia added with a playful smirk through the window.

"Do you want to have dinner at mine? My Dad will probably want to talk to you anyway." Stiles asked shyly, smirking at Derek's groan of horror at the thought of the Sheriff threatening him with his gun collection.

"Kill me now." Derek groaned half-heartedly, both knowing he didn't mean it as he gave Stiles another kiss. "Come on, let's get this over with, then I can go to bed tonight happy that I don't have to have another talk with your dad." Derek said, offering Stiles his hand as he helped him stand up and walked towards the others.

Everyone came over and gave Derek a group hug; the entire pack had been worried sick. Derek hugged them all back, feeling relieved that he had such an amazing pack that cared so much for him.

"Derek, I hear you're coming over for dinner?" The Sheriff said with a smirk that could rival Stiles' any day.

"Yes sir." Derek replied shyly.

"You know we're going to have to have a talk son." He said smugly.

Derek sighed in defeat. "Yes sir." Stiles chuckled happily, leaning in to hug his boyfriend.

"Okay so pack movie night at yours tomorrow at the same time?" Scott asked as the pack began to walk home, or in Lydia and Parrish's case, walk past them into the house.

"Sure, no problem." Derek replied with a smile. He waved at the pack before getting into the passenger side of Stiles' jeep, Stiles gave him a loving smile as he backed out of Lydia's driveway and drove towards his house.

"Are you sure you want me to go to your house? I'm perfectly fine with jumping out this window and hoping the ground will swallow me whole." Derek joked dejectedly.

"Of course I do, you're just going to have to deal with it. My dad's a total softy and he really likes you Derek so don't worry, he won't try to kill you. Mostly threaten, never kill." Stiles told him, smirking smugly.

"You are lucky that I love you." Derek joked, admiring the happiness he smelt in Stiles' scent.

"Yes I am." Stiles replied happily.

Okay so I wasn't really sure where to leave off there. I had this idea last night and decided to write it today, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm not sure whether I will continue it or not, we shall see.


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